Risky bridge needs urgent renovation

Local people have continued using the decades-old bridge on Nawda Shalua Canal in Sirajganj's Raiganj upazila after the structure has turned awfully risky in the last couple of weeks.

Besides, vehicular movement through the bridge has been completely suspended since the beginning of last month.

Villagers said although the decades-old bridge turned awfully dilapidated a few years ago, a large portion of the deck of the concrete bridge partially broke down in early March and made it too risky even for the pedestrians.

Meanwhile, although movement of heavy vehicles have been stopped since last month, three wheelers and pedestrians still use the bridge frequently amid risk of accident.

"Fear grips us when we cross the broken part of the bridge on rickshaws or three-wheelers," MA Malek of Raiganj village said.

Abdul Aziz, a member of Pangashi Union Parishad (UP), said the bridge on Nawda Shalua Canal connects nearly eight to ten villages under two unions -- Pangashi and Nalka union – of the upazila. 

As there is no alternative, several thousand people of those villages still use the vulnerable bridge every day, risking their lives," Aziz said.

The important bridge turned awfully risky due to lack of renovation work for years, he added.

"Villagers have temporarily setup a bamboo-made platform on the broken portion of the bridge for smooth movement of pedestrians and nonmotorized vehicles. But heavy vehicles are currently moving through different alternative routes, far from the bridge area, to reach their destinations," Pangashi UP Chairman Rafikul Islam said.

We have informed the upazila engineering office of the matter and urged them to reconstruct the old risky bridge, but no step has been taken so far, added the chairman.

While talking, Raiganj LGED Upazila Engineer Abdul Latif, however, said experts from the LGED already visited the spot and submitted estimated costs of its repair and reconstruction work.

 Vehicular movement remains totally suspended as the bridge is nearly three-decades-old and turned awfully risky for lack of renovation work, he said.

It requires at least Tk 45 lakh to build a new bridge in place of the old one, he added.